It is #FrancophonieMonth and this is the story of the Franco-Manitobans!
The first French speakers arrived in what is now Manitoba in 1660 when fur traders reached the area.
Settlement of the area by Francophones did not occur until the 1730s though.
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Pierre Gaultier de Varennes was the 1st to establish a presence in southern Manitoba with Fort St. Charles in 1732. From that year until 1741, he established seven forts in Manitoba.
As fur traders arrived, they married Indigenous women, creating the Metis people.
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In 1871, there were 5,500 Francophones in Manitoba, making up half of the population of the province.
Within 10 years, they were a minority as English settlers from Ontario moved in.
In 1890, the provincial government removed the linguistic rights of Francophones.
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That year, English became the sole official language of the province, including in schools.
In 1896, a compromise was reached to allow French instruction at schools.
Then, in 1916, the province banned any language but English for school instruction.
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French instruction was not re-introduced to schools until 1955.
In 1970, French was reestablished as an official language for education.
In 2016, the Francophone Community Enhancement and Support Act was passed, signaling Francophone linguistic acceptance in Manitoba.
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On July 9, 1960, seven-year-old Roger Woodward was swept over Niagara Falls. He survived, becoming the first known person to survive going over the falls without a barrel.
Many daredevils have attempted to do the same thing.
This is the story of some of them.
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Annie Edson Taylor:
On Oct. 24, 1901, the 63-year-old Taylor went over the falls in a custom made barrel of oak and iron, padded with a mattress. She survived the journey with just a small gash on her forehead.
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Bobby Leach:
On July 25, 1911, Leach went over the falls in a steel barrel. While he survived the plunge, he spent six months in hospitals recovering from a fractured jaw and two broken knee caps. He later died after injuring his leg slipping on an orange peel.
Murray Sinclair was a Senator, judge and university chancellor.
But his greatest contribution was as chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in the early-2010s.
This is the story of a lifelong champion of Indigenous rights.
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Murray Sinclair was born on Jan. 24, 1951 in Selkirk, Manitoba. Raised on the St. Peter's Reserve, he was his class valedictorian and Athlete of the Year at his high school in 1968.
He attended the University of Manitoba but left to care for his grandparents.
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In 1971, while working at the Selkirk Friendship Centre, he was elected vice president of the Manitoba Metis Federation. He was also the executive assistant to MLA Howard Pawley.
In 1976, Sinclair enrolled at the University of Winnipeg. He then attended law school.
Olga Kotelko may be the greatest athlete Canada has ever produced.
She held 30 world records and won over 750 gold medals. And she did it all from her 70s to 90s.
This is the story of this legendary athlete!
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Olga Kotelko was born on March 2, 1919 in Smuts, Saskatchewan. When she was 22, she graduated from Saskatoon Normal School and taught at a one-room school near Vonda, Saskatchewan.
After her marriage broke up, she raised her two children.
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After she retired in 1984, she took up playing softball. At the age of 70, she made a double play. After she gave up her position to a 55-year-old, she started in track and field. She chose that because she had developed her running and throwing skills in softball.
On June 23, 1611, Henry Hudson, his son and six others were put into a boat in Hudson Bay by mutineers and cast adrift. From that point, they disappeared from history.
So what happened to Henry Hudson?
Let's explore the mystery
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Henry Hudson was a celebrated explorer during the early-1600s.
In 1607 and 1608, he made two attempts to find the Northeast Passage. His explorations of North America laid the foundation for Dutch colonization of the present-day New York region.
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In 1610, he began a new expedition to find the Northwest Passage. He became the first European to see Hudson Strait and Hudson Bay.
Entering Hudson Bay, he believed he had found the passage to the Pacific. He soon realized this was wrong but by then winter had set in.
On June 22, 1971, Joni Mitchell's magnum opus album, Blue, was released.
It is not only hailed as her best album, but one of the greatest albums ever made.
The album is celebrated to this day by critics and fans alike.
This is the story of Joni Mitchell's fourth album.
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The first three albums in Mitchell's career were acclaimed but by 1970 she needed a break from performing.
In the spring of 1970, she set off on vacation in Europe. While in Crete, she wrote some of the songs that appeared on Blue.
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Many of the songs on the album were inspired by personal experience including her relationships with Cary Raditz and Graham Nash. Both My Old Man and River are typically credited as being inspired by her troubled relationship with Nash.
Tommy Prince was one of the most decorated soldiers in Canadian history through two different wars.
But after his war service finished, he was forgotten by the country he had served.
This is the story of Tommy Prince.
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Tommy Prince's ancestors had served in support of the Crown during the 1870 Red River Resistance, and his father Chief William Prince was a member of the Nile Expedition in 1885. Family members also served in the First World War.
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Tommy Prince was born on Oct. 25, 1915. Growing up, Prince was an excellent marksmen. He also developed tracking and stealth skills.
Prince's father taught him to shoot using a target the size of a playing card at 100 metres.